2004 Walk

We began with a 5 day walk in Burgundy starting and ending in Beaune. We passed through Savigny-lès-Beaune, Meursault, Santenay and Nolay.

This was followed by a 32 day walk from le Puy-en-Velay through the Cévennes on the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail (GR70), passing over Mont Lozère to Florac.

We then left the GR70, travelling over Mont Aigoual and down via the Cirque de Navacelles to Lodève.

From Lodève we passed through the High Languedoc to Mazamet before joining the pilgrim Way of Arles (GR653) at Dourgne and continuing past Revel to the Canal du Midi and on via Toulouse and Auch to Pau.

You can also see this map using Google Earth and take a virtual flight along our route.

For almost the rest of the walk we went downstream on the Loire, past Orleans and Tours to Saumur, before finally running out of time at Saint-Mathurin-sur-Loire. Our only deviation was to Azay-le-Rideau and Chinon.

You can also see this map using Google Earth and take a virtual flight along our route.

2009 Walk

Once again our intentions were cut short by a medical problem, reducing our walk from the hoped-for forty days to only seven.

We started on the Vézère river at Terrasson, the starting point for our downstream walk in 2005, and followed the river in the other direction, past Uzerche and Treignac, to the tiny village of Lacelle. Here we decided that Jenny’s eye needed attention at home, so we hitch-hiked to Limoges, got the train to Paris and flew back to Austalia.

You can also see this map using Google Earth and take a virtual flight along our route.

2014 Walk

Because many of our previous walks have been in a south-westerly direction and this one was towards the north-west, we crossed our old tracks several times, as well as a succession of familiar rivers, starting with the Tarn, then the Aveyron, the Lot, the Célé, the Dordogne, the Vézère, the Vienne and the Creuse.

2015 Walk

Our first ten days were in the far south, from Port-la-Nouvelle to Avignonet-Lauragais. We crossed the thinly populated hills of the Corbières, then descended to join the Canal du Midi, on which we passed through many Cathar towns such as Carcassonne and Castelnaudary.

We then took a train to Burgundy. The second part of our walk started in Beaune and soon joined the Canal of Burgundy, which we followed for a week until we got to Tonnerre.

From there we turned west, past Chablis and Auxerre, then through the old region of Puisaye to Rogny-les-Sept-Écluses, where we met the Canal de Briare.

We took this canal down to the Loire. At Gien we left the river and pressed on through the thick forests of the Sologne to our final canal, the Canal de Berry, which we followed for the last four days, from Mehun-sur-Yèvre to St-Amand-Montrond.

You can also see this map using Google Earth and take a virtual flight along our route.

2016 Walk

A daily diary of our 26 day, 550 km walk, which was in two parts although we did not plan it that way.

We started walking in Burgundy, setting off from Clamecy on the Canal du Nivernais, and walking south along the canal to its final junction with the lateral canal of the Loire at Decize.

After that our intention was to follow the lateral canal to Digoin, then head east through Macon and Bourg-en-Bresse before crossing the Jura mountains to Geneva, where we would join the Way of Geneva going to le Puy.

However fate had other ideas and we only got as far as Diou, just short of Digoin, when we had to call the whole thing off because of a mysterious leg problem.

Five days later the problem went away (although the mystery remained), so we caught a train to Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, leapfrogging the middle section of our planned walk, and proceeded from there to le Puy at a leisurely pace with no further dramas. Once in le Puy we still had time to spare, so as a last flourish we did a two-day circular outing via St-Paulien.

You can also see this map using Google Earth and take a virtual flight along our route.

2017 Walk

A daily diary of our 33 day, 750 km walk from east to west across France.

Starting close to the Swiss border at St-Julien-en-Genevois, we spent a few days crossing the rugged Jura mountains and then pressed on to the Saône near Pont-de-Vaux.

We followed this river north as far as St-Jean-de-Losne, where we turned onto the Canal of Burgundy and continued beside it to Dijon and on to Pont d’Ouche. There we left the canal and headed south-west via Autun to join the Loire at Digoin.

The rest of the walk was generally westward, through rich agricultural land punctuated by classic small towns such as St-Pourçain-sur-Sioule and Hérisson.

When we reached the Canal de Berry at Vallon-en-Sully, the weather was very hot and we decided to have a break in St-Amand-Montrond, a town that we had stayed in before and loved. It was a short train ride away and we had two nights there, eating, sleeping and reading.

Back on the track, we arrived at la Châtre, the end of our walk, and then made our way by bus and train to another favourite town, Bléré, near Tours, to enjoy a second relaxing little holiday before the ordeal of the plane flight back to Australia.

You can also see this map using Google Earth and take a virtual flight along our route.

2018 Walk

A daily diary of our month-long walk down the valley of the Allier and along the Canal of Burgundy, which covered almost 700 km.

We began, as often before, in le Puy-en-Velay, and went north and west for three days until we reached the Allier, a grand river winding tortuously through the mountains.

For the next five days we followed the river on its northerly descent, but after that we were forced to zig-zag widely to left and right, in order to find camping grounds and villages with bars and restaurants, comfort-loving creatures that we are.

We eventually rejoined the Allier and a day later arrived in Moulins. From there we diverged once again from the river, rejoining it after four days, just in time to say a last goodbye as it disappeared into the Loire near Nevers.

For the next week we did a reverse pilgrimage on the Way of Vézelay, and continued to Avallon. A short hop by train and bus took us to Tonnerre, from where we walked along the Canal of Burgundy to its end, and then looped back to Auxerre. After a celebratory dinner, we took the train to Paris, camped one night at the ever-reliable camping ground there, and flew home.

You can also see this map using Google Earth and take a virtual flight along our route.